Beginnings and Ends
by M.J.Jewett
Summary: The falling of a kingdom. The trappings of a prince and manipulations of a slightly mad concubine.A summary of events.*Finished*
1. Default Chapter

Beginnings and Ends (This is all pure speculation. Gensomaden Saiyuki and all it's lovely characters are owned by Kazuya Minekura. Naori26@hotmail.com)  
  
(Part 1) Change  
  
Long Youkai fingernails, perfectly trimmed and manicured, thrummed with an  
  
irate rhythm against the silent throne. The sound echoed in the bloodstained room,  
  
heightened by the desolate stillness. It had been so perfect, she thought silently. So close,  
  
to ruling supreme by the side of her lovely GuMaoh. Flawless lips pulled back into a  
  
silent snarl. No, oh no, not this easily would she give up. She had not become the Great  
  
Lord's concubine through girlish charm only. Angry, devious slyness and even a touch  
  
of madness swirled in the mind of Gyokumen Koushu.  
The child she had birthed just before the Great Lord's fall was GuMaoh's blood and  
  
secured her position rather nicely. A loud, squalling girl brat that would serve well as a  
  
pawn someday in the future.  
With these thoughts in mind, swiftly, Gyokumen pushed herself from the chair and  
  
stalked out of the great chamber. The western land lay in tatters after the Battle Prince  
  
Nataku came down and brought the judgment of Heaven. She, herself, had not been there  
  
for the final great battle. Only Prince Kougaiji was the last remaining living soul who had  
  
witnessed the fight. And where was he now? Imprisoned along with the figure of her  
  
lover, prowling the lower quarter of the castle. And the third, the Raisatsu, so  
  
conveniently laid to rest by Gyokumen's malicious ministrations.  
  
A pretty piece of planning that had been on her part. A nasty ward that should  
  
have by all means killed the softhearted bitch had she not possessed some magic ability  
  
that instead of death, had sealed herself in stone. Only a part of a plan that would have  
  
gotten her a ruling position beside GuMaoh. A plan that had been shot to the lowest  
  
debts of hell, she snarled silently to herself. The granite walls of the great castle still bore  
  
the marks of violence of those who had fought, or rather picked a fight against impossible  
  
odds only to have their blood decorate the castle walls. Her figure only a flitting  
  
presence of silk and gauze in the darkness of the unlit maze of hallways. Ah, here.  
  
Gyokumen slowed and stopped before a great balcony that looked down upon the silent  
  
figure of GuMaoh. The wards of Nataku had sealed him in still stone and prevented  
  
anyone from entering the lower quarters. Or, Gyokumen thought smiling maliciously,  
  
anyone from coming out.  
"My Lady?" came a tentative voice from behind her. Gyokumen Koushu turned  
  
slightly. "What?"  
  
"People gather at the gates asking of news. What shall we tell them?"  
Gyokumen stroked a long nailed finger against pearly white skin. A smile lifted the  
  
corners of her mouth; a fox catching wind of unprotected prey.  
"We shall tell them that the Empress Gyokumen Koushu will lead them out of these dark  
  
times and rise against all who oppose us."  
The attendant bowed and led her mistress back through the castle. Gyokumen's mind  
  
was spinning with possibilities, deceits and most importantly the resurrection of a plan  
  
that would guarantee her everything she ever dreamed of. All that was required now was  
  
time and careful manipulation. 


	2. Be Still

Beginnings and Ends (This is all pure speculation. Gensomaden Saiyuki and all it's lovely characters are owned by Kazuya Minekura. Naori26@hotmail.com)  
  
(Part 2)Be Still  
  
It was strange, the things one missed when cut off from life. The simple  
  
presence of another living being, fresh towels, even the wind on ones face.  
  
Things taken for granted until they were taken away completely. Kougaiji gazed sullenly  
  
at the figure of his father, ever silent, trying to name the emotions roiling through him.  
  
Anger, he decided. That was the most prominent one. Dying sunlight from a high  
  
window marked the end of the day. Another day. Countless days. He turned and walked  
  
back to his chambers, flickering shadows from torches lighting the gold in his deep  
  
auburn hair. The silent hum of generators the only sound that accompanied him. A  
  
strange mix, this castle. Old and new, the forbidden mix of magic and technology. One  
  
of the things that had brought down his father and him along for the ride, he thought  
  
bitterly.  
  
The room was well furnished, as one would expect royalty to have. Kougaiji sat  
  
himself in a high backed chair and thumbed through the pages of the recent book he was  
  
reading. He was finding it hard to discern time recently. The stone walls, the  
  
unchanging silence, all of it was beginning to take its toll. Things were changing within  
  
him as well. The brash impatience of youth was being grinded away. It was as though  
  
the stillness around him was beginning to seep into him. Irritably he closed the book and  
  
removed his jacket then lay down on the silk sheets of his bed. Closing his eyes he  
  
thought bitterly it would have been kinder had Nataku took his conscious away as he had  
  
his father. But when did Heaven believe in mercy of the mortals below? It was a long  
  
time before he fell asleep. 


	3. Thought

Beginnings and Ends (This is all pure speculation. Gensomaden Saiyuki and all it's lovely characters are owned by Kazuya Minekura. Naori26@hotmail.com)  
  
(Part 3) Thought  
  
Tiny feet pattered against polished stone. The little girl was ecstatic, full of  
  
energy only found in young children tugging on the hand of an exhausted parent. Today  
  
she had slipped away from her nanny and she planned on using the time wisely. The  
  
cramped space of the tunnel was pitch black outside the light of her torch. She had  
  
discovered this particular passage by a lucky accident and was thrilled with the secret.  
  
But not her greatest secret. Left, right, twenty more paces and there! She pushed a loose  
  
stone and crawled into dim light from a high window. This was her favorite pastime; this  
  
huge chamber that would echo her voice when she shouted. Ahead of her an eerie faint  
  
wall of light shone marking the spot she could no longer travel. A ward, her Ni-chan had  
  
said. Speaking of which.  
  
"Niiiii-chaaaaaaan!!"  
  
Her greatest secret, and her happiest one. Her Empress Mother would be furious  
  
had she known where Lirin was and it was that thought that filled Lirin with glee. Had  
  
her Empress Mother actually paid enough attention to her to care.  
  
The shadows shifted slightly and Kougaiji stepped close the barrier without  
  
touching it, a rare fleeting smile on his face. "Lirin, you came."  
She smiled largely. "Of course I came! I like visiting you!" She reached inside the folds  
  
of the dress her nanny had insisted she wore and brought forth a handful of wildflowers  
  
she had picked earlier that day. "Here! I picked these for you." She set them just outside  
  
the influence of the ward; a splash of color and life against the cold marble floor.  
  
Kougaiji kneeled as close as he could, sadness and happiness warring in his eyes.  
  
"Thank you. They're beautiful. Tell me, what trouble have you been up to?"  
  
Lirin pouted for a moment. "Who says I'm trouble?" Then just as quickly she  
  
smiled and began to chatter happily about the world outside.  
The sunlight was growing weak when Kougaiji finally straightened and stood, a  
  
stern look on his face. "Lirin, you had better return before you worry too many people.  
  
They will be looking for you."  
  
Lirin stood also and a small pout favored her face again. "I don't like it up there. Nobody  
  
listens to me and my Empress Mother is always planning things."  
  
Kougaiji's face changed slightly. "Planning things? What sort of things, Lirin?"  
Lirin screwed up her face in childish thought. "Something about my Emperor Father and  
  
'developing better technology'."  
  
Kougaiji sucked in a breath yet kept silent as Lirin wiggled back into the  
  
passageway, pausing to turn wave cheerfully. The stone was replaced and Kougaiji was  
  
plunged back into familiar silence and unease. 


	4. Manipulation

Beginnings and Ends (This is all pure speculation. Gensomaden Saiyuki and all it's lovely characters are owned by Kazuya Minekura. The quote that Ni says is from Alice in Wonderland, I don't own it. Naori26@hotmail.com)  
  
(Part 4)Manipulation  
  
Ensui pushed the yellow tinted glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. The lab was  
  
finely made, to be expected of his.sponsor. The room still was freshly painted and  
  
constructed, the sharp smell of chemicals offensive to sensitive noses.  
  
The other people in the room beside him shifted uncomfortably. They were, he  
  
suspected, here for the same reasons as he. The slip of paper was in the breast pocket  
  
of his white lab jacket;  
  
~ Potential applicant,  
  
Her Empress Gyokumen Koushu recognizes your great potential in the field of science  
  
and technology. You are called to Her great service and are expected to arrive in the  
  
Western land by the 20th day of the 6th month of the year. Accommodations will be  
  
provided for. Be proud to serve the great cause of Her Empress. ~  
  
It was unsigned and had appeared just as mysteriously. The intrigue was too much and  
  
asides the fact that refusal might mean losing his head, serving an Empress would be  
  
impressive on resumes.  
  
The heavy metal door opened and stepped in a human female with a clipboard.  
  
Ensui stared in disbelief; she was smallish, short brown curly hair, glasses and looked as  
  
though she bitten into something sour.  
  
"Good afternoon. I am Dr. Fan, welcome to Her Empress Gyokumen Koushu's service.  
  
You all are the best in your respected fields and great things will be expected from you. I  
  
am Co-Director and if you have any questions or problems come to me. This will be  
  
your lab, please use this time to become familiar with it. Except for-" Dr. Fan paused and  
  
looked at her clipboard. "Dr. Ensui. You have different quarters, please come with me."  
  
Without waiting to see if he was following she turned on her heel and was out the  
  
door and stepping quickly through the corridors. Disgruntled he matched her steps,  
  
walking beside her. She looked at him sideways, "Your area of expertise are  
  
pyrokinetics, yes?" Ensui nodded minutely. "Good. You will have your own lab and  
  
assistants. The Empress will expect much from you." They paused at another door and  
  
Dr. Fan knocked briskly then pushed it open.  
  
The room was dark with two occupants. One was a tall Youkai woman he recognized at  
  
once to be non other than Gyokumen Koushu. The other was a human man with his  
  
back turned to him typing away on a computer. His breath constricted in his throat and  
  
threw himself down on his knees.  
  
"Empress!"  
  
His glasses slid down his nose again, almost falling off. There was an amused chuckle  
  
and slow steps walking towards him. "Lady." Dr. Fan bowed. "This is Ensui, master  
  
of pyrokinetics of the Eastern University."  
  
Cool fingers tapped underneath his chin, lifting his face up. Cold, calculating eyes  
  
studied his. "Tell me, Ensui, when you gave yourself to my service would you be willing  
  
to do anything?" He swallowed. "Yes, Empress, anything." She smiled. "Would you  
  
sacrifice the world for me? And yourself?" He felt dark corners of soul stir in response  
  
to the manic gleam in her face. He had decided this before he came. For his beautiful,  
  
beautiful work he would give anything. "Yes, Empress."  
  
Gyokumen turned away from him and walked back towards the human at the  
  
computer. "Very well. I give you full access to anything you need."  
  
Dr. Fan tugged on his arm and led him back through the door. The last thing he saw was  
  
the human turning in his chair to give him a calculating smile. A small stuffed toy rabbit  
  
sat in the humans lap and the human waved a floppy ear at him.  
  
" 'How cheerfully he seems to grin, how neatly he spreads his claws, and welcomes little  
  
fishes in, with gently smiling jaws.' The Empress doesn't like accidents, Ensui-san. Be  
  
well to remember that. " Dr. Fan scowled darkly at the man and shut the door behind her.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Dr. Ni Jieni was a strange enigma of a human being. A dangerous one because of  
  
it and one that was intriguing, found through his amazing genius of science and  
  
questionable morals. Currently banned from all higher learning institutions as a heretic,  
  
Gyokumen wasted no time in recruiting him along with other talents.  
  
Gyokumen Koushu watched the human type streams of data into a computer.  
  
Wisps of smoke rose from the dangling cigarette. The room was bathed in the glow of  
  
computer screens, tubes and other electrical assortments that she had no real interest in.  
  
The chair Ni sat in creaked as he leaned back into it, black hair spiked and unruly. His  
  
appearance that of one who rolled out of bed with the same clothes he had worn the  
  
previous night. Not at all like any male she had seen before. He cocked his head back,  
  
eyes lazy and utterly certain with himself. The light from the computer screen cast  
  
shadows over his stubbled face and reflected off his glasses.  
  
"Well?"  
  
Ni smiled. "It's all working. All systems are running, Empress. Worth your time, yes?"  
  
Gyokumen hmphed. "How long before we can run the program? No damage will occur  
  
to my lovely GuMaoh?"  
  
Ni Jieni's smile widened. "No damage. The program will release the first set of  
  
wards but the ones actually containing GuMaoh will require. further study. Whenever  
  
the Empress wishes to start." That slick smile that contained eerie cunning. Not unlike  
  
her own, Gyokumen thought. She reached out a finger and stroked the side of his face.  
  
Human skin, an interesting contrast of warm softness and wiry stubble. An answering  
  
light shone in Ni's eyes.  
  
"As soon as possible." Gyokumen purred. She strode to the door and cast a long  
  
look over her shoulder. "I have to catch up with an old.acquaintance. Start the  
  
program."  
  
A useful acquaintance if properly controlled. And Gyokumen Koushu already had that  
  
planned out easily as snapping a twig. Everything was working in her favor, she thought.  
  
A contented smile on her face she punched the numbers into the elevator leading to the  
  
lowest level of the castle. 


	5. Circumstance

Beginnings and Ends (This is all pure speculation. Gensomaden Saiyuki and all it's lovely characters are owned by Kazuya Minekura. Naori26@hotmail.com)  
(Part 5)Circumstance  
  
The silent hum of the ward that had been a constant background noise was suddenly,  
  
without warning, gone. It rather had the effect of his head being slammed into something  
  
hard. Kougaiji could only stare at nothing while his vision swam with little twinkly  
  
lights. Unbelievable, unreachable and beyond all he had hoped for. Briefly wondering if  
  
he had finally lost his mind Kougaiji held up his hands to where the wards influence had  
  
began and marked the end of his freedom. And there was. . . nothing. It had to be ten  
  
minutes that Kougaiji could only hold his hands to where the ward was, convincing  
  
himself that he was not hallucinating. Then one solid thought formed in his mind.  
  
Mother.  
  
Recovering buried memories led him through hallways and rooms he had not seen  
  
in gods knew how long. Startled servants dropped their work and he brushed past them,  
  
faces white in shock. He did not recognize them nor the added work of running wire and  
  
lights through the castle. None of it mattered though. Only the thought of Mother was  
  
running through his head. One of the few candles of hope he held in his heart in his long  
  
imprisonment, the memory of his mother.  
  
The great doors leading to her chambers were closed. He heaved the strength of his  
  
upper body against them and they groaned and creaked then gave away. Years of disuse  
  
corroding the edges. Heart heaving in his chest, laden with a sudden sinking feeling he  
  
stepped into the room and stopped. His mother was encased in stone, arms outspread like  
  
an unvoiced angel. Eyes closed, unhearing and unmoving. Kougaiji's throat tightened as  
  
tears threatened to spill. "Oh, Mother.how?" The wards were nothing he had ever seen  
  
before, nothing he could even comprehend so intricately made. That alone spoke  
  
cunning, influence and expense.  
  
Footsteps behind him. Slow and wholly sure of themselves.  
  
"Prince Kougaiji. Welcome back to the land of the living. Lovely wards, aren't they?"  
  
The voice amused, a poison edged dagger. It may had been countless years since he'd  
  
heard the voice but there was no mistaking it.  
  
"Gyokumen Koushu." Kougaiji hissed, a rumbling growl in his chest. Time had not  
  
changed her much, as often it did not change long living Youkai. Hand on hip,  
  
indecently dressed Gyokumen Koushu was as much as he remembered her.  
  
"Not happy to see me? You could manage better manners for the Empress of the  
  
Western Lands." Pink lips pouted.  
  
"Like hell!" Moving without thinking Kougaiji had her against the far wall, long claws  
  
begging to sink into flesh. "Is this your doing?!"  
  
Gyokumens's face immobile, eyes taunting she said, "Would you kill your only chance to  
  
free your poor mother? No? Be a good boy and let go then. I have a proposition."  
  
He threw himself off of her and stalked away a few steps. " What proposition?"  
  
Gliding a white hand down her abused throat she purred, "I think that would be obvious.  
  
My lovely GuMaoh is still imprisoned and I want him free. Your mother is imprisoned  
  
as well, and you want her free. Do as I say and I will give you the key to release her. If  
  
not, well, she can rot for eternity in her stone grave."  
  
The torches inside the chamber hissed and danced wildly in response to  
  
Kougaiji's growing fury. "As YOU say? And what exactly does that include?"  
  
"Very simple. Resume your responsibilities as Prince. And destroy anyone who  
  
interferes with the resurrection of GuMaoh."  
  
Oppressive silence in the room. "Would you do anything for your mother?"  
  
Kougaiji closed his eyes briefly then looked up to the still figure of his mother. "As you  
  
say. However if I am to resume my responsibilities and rule over my people then I also  
  
want responsibility over my sister." A brief look of shock flickered through Gyokumen's  
  
eyes.  
  
"Oh? That's where she's disappeared to all these times. Very well, she is in your care  
  
and nothing had better happen to her. She is my precious daughter, after all."  
  
"Of course."  
  
~Epilogue~  
  
The sun was a burning ball of light, streaking the clouds with brilliant hues of orange and red. Standing on the rocky outcrop the wind began to pick up and lightly pushed his hair back from his eyes. It was a feeling Kougaiji never wanted to forget again. The feeling was marred with bittersweet happiness. To come out of a 500 year imprisonment to find everything he had cared about crumbled and to be under the thumb of that.woman.  
  
"Ni-chan?" A small hand took his. His face softened. "It's nothing Lirin."  
  
He looked down on her bright face, the stripe markings of their lineage darkening a deeper red as she grew older. By the time she was a full adult she would have three stripes, like his. A sister. It was a bright spot in the dark sadness of his heart.  
  
"Are you really going to look after me?"  
  
"You don't want me to?"  
  
Lirin shook her head enthusiastically. "You're WAY better then my other nanny! Can I wear boy's clothes? And will you teach me to fight like a boy? I'm really strong!"  
  
He squeezed her hand gently. "Certainly. It's best that you know how to take care of yourself for whatever may come."  
  
Lirin looked at him quizzically. "What's coming?" Kougaiji sighed mentally. "Nothing for little princesses to worry about. Come, it's getting dark and you need to eat some dinner."  
  
He led Lirin back towards the castle while thinking of what was to come. First thing was first. He would establish completely loyal retainers and regain the full trust of his people. Duty already had him traveling to some of the smaller cities that out skirted the great castle on account of a disturbance of one of the Youkai clans. The murderer Sa Jien had been obtained and awaited his judgment. His rule would be different than his father's, he would make certain. For his mother, he would do anything. Even as those words flitted through his mind, Kougaiji felt tiny seeds of uncertainty sprout in a dark corner of his soul.  
  
~END~ 


End file.
